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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pop · drill · bass · tube · date · wax · capital · game

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bass — the fish
  7. tube — a container
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. game — a match
  10. drill — a practice
  11. date — the fruit
  12. pop — to visit
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. capital — money
  15. drill — army training
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bass — low music
  19. drill — the tool
  20. pop — music
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. wax — to grow
  23. pop — soda
  24. capital — a city

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com